Australia was salivating in advance of this round of 16 between world No. 1 (local) Ashleigh Barty and defending champion Naomi Osaka. However, it will never have taken place. If the Australian continues to unfold over the laps, the Japanese has stopped dead in her southern adventure.
La perf : Amanda Anisimova
After a tormented 2021, Naomi Osaka is no longer the player who won the Australian Open last year. It prevents. The American Amanda Anisimova, 20, had a hell of a match to overcome the former world No. 1 and offer herself an 8th final against Barty.
Anisimova, who was a semi-finalist at Roland Garros in 2019 before struggling to recover from her father’s death, even saved two match points at 4-5 in the third set. In the super decisive game, the Floridian of Russian origin, 60th in the WTA, was trailing 2-5 before winning 10-5 on her first match point. With this defeat, Naomi Osaka will find herself beyond the 80th place in the world after the tournament.
The match: Berrettini – Alcaraz
It will certainly remain one of the matches of the fortnight. On a half-filled Rod Laver Arena (gauge requires), Matteo Berrettini and Carlos Alcaraz offered a fiery match for more than four hours. A shock of titans (and big arms) which ended with the victory of the Italian after the effort and the suspense (6-2, 7-6 (3), 4-6, 2-6 , 7-6 (10-5)). The world No. 7 won, but the Spanish prodigy, whose muscles acquired this winter impresses, has taken a date.
“It’s amazing what he’s doing. Me, at his age, I don’t even know if I had an ATP point! With each match, he proves his enormous potential a little more,” breathes Berrettini. The Italian, however, thought he had done the hardest part by leading two sets to nothing (then 4-4) but that was without counting on the sudden fury of the Spaniard and his monstrous forehands. In the round of 16, Berrettini will face another Spaniard, Pablo Carreño Busta, who beat Sebastian Korda on Friday in four sets (6-4, 7-5, 6-7 (6), 6-3).
The Blues: Mannarino, it’s beautiful; Kiki and Caro, it’s over…
Adrian Mannarino, 69th player in the world, still advances in the men’s table and here he is in the 1/8th final after another performance at the expense of Russian Aslan Karatsev, 15th in the world and surprise semi-finalist in Melbourne last year.
Val d’Oisien spared no effort to break through in the second week of the tournament, where they joined Gaël Monfils. Winner 7-6 (7/4), 6-7 (4/7), 7-5, 6-4, he will have spent 4:38 on the court, finishing the game at 2:30 a.m. local time.
“I like running and I felt fit today,” said the Soisy-sous-Montmorency player in the post-match interview. I sometimes looked at the clock and said to myself: “That’s not true…”. I don’t feel well, I’m pretty exhausted. It was cool, I was so focused on what I had to do: one point, then the next point… Spectators who had certainly had a few drinks commented on what I was doing, it was nice.
Already three times in the 1/8th Grand Slam at Wimbledon (2013, 2017 and 2018), the 33-year-old French left-hander, who makes sure never to be informed of the identity of his next opponent, will be opposed to another left-hander, Rafael Nadal himself, 5th in the world and winner of the 2009 edition, on Sunday.
Two small turns and then go away. Associated for the first time in a Grand Slam since 2017, Kristina Mladenovic and Caroline Garcia did not go beyond the second round in Melbourne. The tricolor pair lost in three sets against seeded No. 3, Elise Mertens and Veronika Kudermetova (4-6, 6-3, 6-2). In singles, the two French women had left the tournament as soon as they entered the competition.
The star: Nadal holds the shock
After two warm-up laps, Rafael Nadal passed his first big test against the Russian Khachanov, even if the latter had never beaten him. And despite a slowdown in the third set, the Spaniard showed that it will be necessary to be strong to send him back to Mallorca (6-3, 6-2, 3-6, 6-1). After two rounds smoothly led, Nadal missed a break point at the start of the 3rd set then a few “easy” balls for him. It was enough to give an extra soul to the head of the series n°28. Short-lived hope. Impressive in the fourth set, the Mallorcan concluded with a winning service. So here is the man with 20 Grand Slams in the round of 16 for the 18th time in his last 18 Majors. All with a small tournament (won in Melbourne) in six months, a foot operation and irreversible sequelae and a Covid contracted in December…
The star (bis): Zverev freewheeling
In search of his first Grand Slam title, the Tokyo Olympic champion took the first week very seriously. After a somewhat sluggish start against his compatriot Daniel Altmaier (87th player in the world), the No. 3 at ATP has found his cruising speed and has still not lost a single set. Friday, the Moldovan Radu Albot (124th), held less than two hours (6-3, 6-4, 6-4). In the round of 16, Zverev will find Denis Shapovalov. A good test…
The number: 20
Gaël Monfils, world No. 20, qualified for his… 20th Grand Slam round of 16 by dismissing the Chilean Garin without trembling (7-6 (4), 6-1, 6-3 in 2:01). The Parisian, 35, remains ahead of Tsonga and Gasquet but overtakes Yannick Noah.
